Housing and oil reservoir kit for gearing of loom let-off



y 3, 1967 c. L. OWENS 3,320,979

HOUSING AND OIL RESERVOIR KIT FOR GEARING OF LOOM LET-OFF Filed July 30, 1965 INVENTOR CARLOS LEE OWENS BY mwww ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,320,979 HOUSING AND OIL RESERVOIR KIT FOR GEARING 0F LOOM LET-OFF Carlos Lee Owens, Greenville, S.C., assignor to Southern Machinery Company, Greer, S.C., a corporation of South Carolina Filed July 30, 1965, Ser. No. 475,963 1 Claim. (Cl. 139-110) The present invention relates to improvements in letoffs for looms.

More particularly, the invention is concerned with the provision of a cover or housing for gearing associated with the let-oif shaft of mechanisms of the type disclosed in prior United States Patents 2,786,491 to J. 0. Hunt and 3,156,267 to F. E. Hooper, as well as prior copending application Ser. No. 406,713, filed Oct. 27, 1964, for Improvements in Loom Let-Offs, William J. Rothfuss, et 211., now US. Patent 3,255,784. In positive type let-offs as disclosed in the above patents and application, it has been customary to operate the worm wheel on the letoif shaft and the coacting worm in a fully exposed state without lubrication. This practice has led to difiiculties among which is the presence of large amounts of lint in the weaving room which accumulates on the gearing and causes friction and excessive wear, actually interfering with the operation of the let-off. The use of liquid lubrication on the exposed gearing is not practical mainly because of the presence of an adjacent belt drive which might become contaminated with oil. Also generally it is undesirable to employ oil in an exposed location around textile machinery because of the possibility of spoiling the yarn or cloth.

It is the objective of this invention to solve the above problems concerning the let-off shaft gearing by the provision of a simplified cover or housing kit for the gearing which may be easily applied to the many existing let-offs in the field or to new let-offs at the time of manufacturing. The housing is constructed in three parts for each of assembling in the field with minimum dismantling of the let-otf and no alteration of its construction, The housing includes a small oil reservoir with an access opening for the introduction of oil in the field without separating the parts of the housing. The housing or cover protects the associated gearing from lint by fully enclosing the same and also protects the adjacent belt drive from contact with the lubricant. A significant feature of the construction, as previously pointed out, is its ability to be mounted on a conventional let-off without drilling any holes in the let-off mechanism or altering the standard structure in any way whatsoever.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a loom let-off equipped with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section through the invention taken on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the invention and associated let-off components.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral designates the mounting plate of the let-off which corresponds to the plate 14 in the aforementioned Patent 2,786,491. As shown in that patent, the mounting plate and the associated bracket structure 11 is rigidly secured to the adjacent loom side, not shown herein. The bracket structure 11 includes a hub or hearing portion 12 3,329,979 Patented May 23, 1967 within which is journ-aled for rotation a let-off shaft 13 which corresponds to the let-oft shaft 43 in Patent 2,786,- 491.

A reduced extension 14 of the let-off shaft 13 has a worm wheel 15 rotatably mounted thereon and coupled thereto for rotation with the let-off shaft by a clutch element 16 keyed at 17 to the let-off shaft and shiftable into and out of coupling engagement with the worm wheel 15. A hand nut 18 has screw-threaded engagement with the let-off shaft, as shown, so that the clutch element may be manually released or engaged.

The worm wheel 15 and let-off shaft 13 are driven by a worm 19 on an output shaft 20 of the let-off mechanism corresponding to the shaft 33 in Patent 2,786,491. The output shaft 20 is driven by a variable speed belt drive 21, as disclosed in said patent. A floating spacer 22 is disposed between the bearing portion 12 and the hub of worm wheel 15, as shown in FIGURE 2. All of the construction thus far described is conventional and corresponds to the construction in the aforementioned United States patents.

As previously stated, the invention proper is concerned with an enclosure or housing for the gear elements 15 and 19 and with supplying lubrication thereto in such a way that the belt drive is protected on contact with oil. The invention attachment comp-rises a top housing section 23 having a cylindrically curved side wall 24 and an end wall 25, the forward side of the housing section 23 being open. Formed centrally on the wall 25 is a hub 26 which receives the floating bushing 22 therein with a small clearance so that some relative movement can occur between the parts, if necessary, during rotation of the let-ofi" shaft 13. As shown, the housing section 23 has a relatively wide bottom opening 27 in its cylindrical side wall and the lower portion of the end wall 25 .has a depending mounting flange 23 including forward recesses 29 to accommodate the heads of screws 30 which are employed to attach a lower oil reservoir member 31 to the housing section 23, rigidly and detachably.

The reservoir member 31 includes a curved side Wall 32 which extends around the worm 19 to enclose the same and also includes arcuate flanges 33 at its ends which lie adjacent the ends of the worm in assembly and receive the shaft 20 in relatively close-fitting relation. An upper fiat extension 34 on the reservoir member 31 is apertured at 35 to receive the attaching screws 30, previously identified. The forward inclined lip 36 of the reservoir member is recessed on its inner sides so that the needle of an oil can or the like may readily introduce oil into the reservoir surrounding the worm 19.

The invention attachment or kit further comprises a front cover plate 37 of generally circular configuration, including a central tubular hub 38 which loosely engages over the hub 39 of worm wheel 15 with adequate clearance, as shown in FIGURE 2. The front cover plate '37 is detachably rigidly secured to housing section 23 by a plurality of circumferentially spaced screws 40, received by tapped bosses 41 on the housing section 23 and apertured lugs 42 on the front cover plate.

The front cover plate 37 includes an integral depending forwardly offset cylindrically curved extension 43 to cover the open space immediately above the reservoir lip 36 and to thereby complete the enclosing of the worm 19, except for a small gap for the introduction of oil, as depicted in FIGURE 2. The extension 43 preferably has a small notch 44- to facilitate the introduction of oil into the reservoir 31.

It may now be seen that the invention provides a simplified three-part housing and oil reservoir for the let-off gearing elements 15 and 19, and the invention may be applied to the let-off or removed therefrom in the field without drilling any holes in the let-off mechanism or modifying the standard construction of the let-off in any manner whatsoever. The three major components 23, 31 and 37 of the invention are held together detachably by two sets of screws 30 and 40 and the entire assembly is suspended from the let-01f shaft by the hub 26 of housing section 23 which simply rides on the bushing 22 of the let-off mechanism. Contact of the reservoir flanges 33 with the shaft 20 will counteract any tendency for the housing attachment to rotate with the let-offshaft and the bushing or spacer 22. Consequently, it is unnecessary to positively anchor the housing attachment to the mounting plate and hence no holes need be drilled or other aiterations made in the conventional mechanism.

Oil in the reservoir '31 can be replenished at any time from an oil can and the housing parts can be quickly separated, when necessary. The invention attachment satisfies a particular need in a simplified and very economical manner and the advantages of the construction should now be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

It is also preferred to mount an alemite lubricant fitting on the extension 43, as indicated at 45, to permit the introduction of semisolid lubricant into the reservoir in some instances, as found desirable. This arrangement allows an alternative-type of lubrication where either liquid or semisolid lubricants can be used.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a loom let-off mechanism, a rotary let-01f shaft, a worn wheel on the let-off shaft to drive the same, a worm and worm shaft beneath the worm wheel and let-off shaft and extending at right angles thereto, the worm meshing with the worm wheel to drive the same, the improvement comprising an attachment kit housing'and oil reservoir for the worm wheel and worn adapted to be readily mounted in the field, said attachment kit consisting of a generally cylindrical housing section which is cup-like and having an open side, one end wall and an annular wall, the annular wall having a bottom opening, the end wall of the housing section having a depending apertured mounting flange integral therewith, the housing section engaging over the worm Wheel covering the top of the inner side thereof, the end wall having a central hub receiving the let-01f shaft and serving to suspend the attachment kit bodily therefrom, a cylindrically curved oil reservoir member arranged below the lower side of the worm and worm shaft and having arcuate side flanges adapted to contact the worm shaft to resist rotation of the attachment kit with the let-off shaft, the reservoir member having an apertured vertical wall for registry With the depending apertured mounting flange, fastener elements detachably connecting the mounting flange and vertical wall rigidly, the reservoir member having an inclined and forwardly projecting lip extending from its cylindrically curved portion and terminating near the elevation of the axis of the worm shaft, and a front generally flat cover plate detachably secured to the open side of the housing section and covering the outer side of the worm wheel and having a central clearance opening to receive a hub portion of the worm wheel rotatably, the front cover plate having an integral depending arcuate extension thereon surrounding an upper quadrant of said worm and being of approximately the same width as said reservoir member, the last-named extension being spaced from the top of said lip and defining therewith a gap to facilitate the introduction of oil into the reservoir member, the reservoir member being substantially narrower along the axis of the worm shaft than the diameter of said housing section and cover plate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,013,505 9/1935 Rossmann 1391 2,523,060 9/1950 Rinne 139100 2,524,381 10/1950 Froussard 1846 2,594,816 4/1952 Snow 139110 2,786,491 3/1957 Hunt 139--110 3,095,063 6/1963 Eskenazi 184-6 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

I. KEE CHI, Assistalnt Examiner, 

